


in the dark (where the fun never ends)

by cori_the_bloody



Category: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (TV)
Genre: Gen, One Shot, Post-Season/Series 04, and inspired by a moment of complete silence i experienced this weekend, lowkey set in the same universe as the letter exchange, turns out nature can be good sometimes, who knew
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:27:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22539322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cori_the_bloody/pseuds/cori_the_bloody
Summary: Nathaniel arrives late to Heather’s condo-warming party, but he figures it’s only appropriate since she’s late throwing it.set post-series
Relationships: Heather Davis & Nathaniel Plimpton
Comments: 12
Kudos: 28





	in the dark (where the fun never ends)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you Bethany for reading this over, and thank you Ellie for being the authority on all things Josh Chan.

Nathaniel arrives late to Heather’s condo-warming party, but he figures it’s only appropriate since she’s late throwing it.

“Look who decided to show up!”

It’s Josh Chan who greets him at the door, and even though they parted ways as tentative friends, Nathaniel’s not exactly sure how he feels to see him again.

Still, he smiles at Josh, if a bit rigidly. “Yes, well, I had quite a while to travel.”

Josh awards his wry comment with a hearty laugh that turns Nathaniel’s smile more toward patient indulgence. It only deepens when Josh plucks a woman seemingly from thin air and wraps his arm around her waist, giving her a peck on the cheek before saying, “Have you met my new girlfriend? Her name is Rosa. She’s magic.”

The news that Josh is seeing someone new interests Nathaniel more than is strictly prudent, and that’s distracting enough that it takes a moment for Josh’s pronouncement to really sink in. “I’m sorry, you think she’s—”

“Magic tricks,” Rosa clarifies. “I’m a performer.”

“Ah.”

“The best one I know,” Josh says. “A master illusionist.”

“She must be,” Nathaniel says, “if she’s convinced herself that you’re interesting enough to date.”

Rosa throws her head back and laughs, and if Nathaniel were at all a sentimental person, he might be thinking about how well suited the two of them seem to be.

“Hey, man,” Josh says, punching Nathaniel on the arm. “Play fair.”

“Never.”

The moment of teasing eases away the last of Nathaniel’s reservations. If pressed, he’d even say he’s glad to see Josh Chan.

Of course, all moments must end.

Nathaniel clears his throat. “Where’s Heather?” he asks, and then holds up the bottle of wine in his fist. “I brought her a house-warming gift.”

Josh glances around the room and shrugs. “Beats me.”

“You’ll probably find her out back,” Rosa supplies. “She’s been telling anyone who’ll listen about the features of the hot tub.”

Nathaniel nods. “Excuse me, then. I must go learn about high-powered jets and jumbo cup holders.”

“Might wanna take a corkscrew with you,” she says, pointing to the wine. “It’ll probably come in handy.”

Nathaniel offers a polite smile and walks away to the sound of Josh’s playful admonishments.

As it turns out, though, Heather is not out back. Just a different member of the girl squad.

He locks eyes with Rebecca the second he’s closed the screen door behind him, and it feels peculiarly akin to standing under the hot spray of a shower when you’re freshly sunburned.

“Nathaniel!” She immediately pops up, sloshing water up the sides of the tub. He finds her obvious fluster strange until he notices it’s Greg sharing the cozy space with her.

“Hello,” he says with a nod to both of them. “Good to see you again.”

“You’re tan,” Rebecca says in response to that.

“Spending a lot of time in the sun does that to you.”

Rebecca laughs, and it’s just a touch too forceful, too loud.

“Explains why I’m the color of a well-bleached bed sheet,” Greg says.

Nathaniel gives a weak chuckle.

“I wanna hear all about it,” Rebecca says, and then clarifies. “The work you’re doing.”

He raises his eyebrows.

She waves off the pointed gesture. “I know we’ve been writing to each other about it a little, but it’s different in person.”

He considers that for a moment, eyes sliding over to Greg and back again. “Yeah. It really is.”

She makes this sort of pitying cooing noise and opens her mouth to speak, but he cuts her off.

“Can we catch up a little later, though? I still haven’t seen Heather. Or,” he adds as an afterthought, “Hector.”

“Right,” Rebecca says, giving him a bright smile that he feels deep in his stomach. “Sure.”

“Last I saw her, she was fighting AJ for control of the stereo,” Greg says helpfully.

“Thanks,” Nathaniel says, nodding at them some more before slipping away.

He continues to get shuffled around once back inside—and detained for longer than is pleasant by a tipsy and determined Darryl, eager to tell everyone at the party about the important work Nathaniel’s doing at the sanctuary—but no one seems to be able to tell him where the hostess really is.

Finally, feeling travel-weary and desperately tired, he sneaks off into the master bedroom and closes the door behind him. As he lets out a heavy sigh once he sits down on the edge of the bed, he almost misses the faint yet familiarly grouchy, “Don’t you respect the sanctity of ‘Off Limits’ signs?” coming from the closet.

“Heather?” Nathaniel asks, standing again.

“No, the ghost of Lesley Gore.”

Smiling, he pushes open the door to the walk-in closet. It takes him a moment, but he spots her crisscrossed legs poking out from the bottom of a bunch of hung-up dresses. He shoves them aside to reveal her sitting against the wall.

“Whatcha doing?”

She scowls up at him. “I should have known it was you. Who else ignores clearly marked boundaries?”

He frowns. “Nearly everyone else we associate with.”

“God, true.” Heather shakes her head. “I gotta get me some new friends.”

“Happy housewarming,” Nathaniel says then. “I brought you a bottle of obscenely expensive wine.”

She holds out her hand and he passes it over.

“Alright,” she says after studying it. “I’ll keep you.”

He starts to fold himself down next to her.

“Wait,” she says. “If you’re going to insist on disrupting my solitude, at least close the door behind you.”

He does so and, once he’s settled on the ground, she starts to tug the dresses back into place one by one.

“Wow,” he whispers as the noise of the party gets muffled and then is shut out completely.

“I know,” Heather says. “It’s my favorite spot in the place.” She rests her head back against the wall and closes her eyes.

After a second spent studying her, he follows suit.

“Nice hot tub,” he says eventually.

“Isn’t it?” she agrees.

“Looks intimate.”

“Don’t be weird, dude.”

He laughs once, humorlessly. “I’m not. It’s just, I saw Rebecca and Gr—”

“I’m going to stop you there,” Heather says, actually leaning over to put a hand over his mouth. “No talking in my happy place. Least of all about _that_.”

“I’m not trying to—” he starts to say into her palm.

“None,” she says firmly, sitting back with a _thud_.

“Sorry.”

“Thank you.”

After an indeterminate amount of time, during which Nathaniel can feel himself start to relax, muscle by muscle, she speaks again.

“They’re not, like, dating.”

“I thought we weren’t allowed to talk about that?”

“We’re not. 

“Okay.”

“But I don’t need you spiraling about something that isn’t even happening.”

“I would not spiral.”

It’s dark in the closet, so he can’t really see Heather. He can hear her smiling, though. “Remember that one time you cried all over me?”

“Fine. Point taken.”

“Good.”

He swallows thickly. “So, they’re really not dating?”

“Nope.”

“It’s probably not fair of me to be so relieved to hear that, huh?”

“Definitely not.”

“But I do.”

“Eh, so you’re human after all. So what?”

His laugh is genuine this time. “You’d think I’d have gotten used to it by now.”

“Being human?”

He takes a deep breath in through his nose and then lets it out in a huff. “Yeah.”

“No one really does. Every time you think you’ve worked it out, something huge changes on you and you have to start from the beginning.”

“Or you try to force change and things don’t,” Nathaniel says, feeling the sting of Rebecca’s sunburn-stare all over again.

Heather hums thoughtfully. “At least there are always closets to hide in. Life’s snooze button.”

“Hmm, I don’t believe in snoozing.”

“You’re welcome to leave,” Heather says with an offended scoff.

He doesn’t, and she doesn’t complain.

Closing his eyes again, a thought floats through his mind: _it’s nice to be home_.

They pop back open and, suddenly lightheaded with a revelation, he nudges Heather with his elbow.

“What now?” she asks, feigning annoyance.

“You’re one of the people I miss most when I’m gone.”

She grunts. “Why do you insist on ruining quiet time?”

He smiles to himself.

A second later, she rests her head on his shoulder. He lets go of everything else but the stillness of the moment.


End file.
